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RE: Reflections on right brain/left brain approaches to gear



I'm in the same boat.  I curl up in the fetal position after about a 
minute of trying to program a multieffects unit or something similar.  I'm 
definitely a stompbox guy.  However I recently got an EDP.  I realize in 
order to get the most out of the machine I'll have to do some major 
reading and experimenting and will have to go against my current way of 
thinking. But I've found out the that you can do amazing things with the 
EDP right away with very basic knowledge of the functions. So right now 
while I procrastinate reading the complete manual and figuring everything 
out, I'm having tons of fun with the basic functions.  I'm looking forward 
to develing deep into the EDP too.  

PS.  Hello everyone. I'm new here. Mark
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: S V G <vsyevolod@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Date:  Thu, 26 Sep 2002 16:58:39 -0700 (PDT)

>
>     After just posting that last bit on the FCB1010 MIDI pedal, I 
>started ruminating a bit on the
>process that I go through as a musician in developing a relationship to 
>my gear.  Someone on
>another list recently made an excellent observation comparing physical 
>patchcords (like with the
>old style modular synthesizers) to LCD menu screens.  He said that the 
>patchcords are more "right
>brain", you can see at a glance what is going on and take actions from an 
>intuitive part of
>yourself in the patching process.  What Brian Eno refers to as "rapport" 
>with ones chosen gear. 
>LCD screens are more "left brain" and require you to enter a different 
>way of thinking in order to
>alter a patch.  Perhaps this way of thinking doesn't come easy for some 
>people (like myself).
>
>     I don't know if the "left brain/right brain" analogy is accurate, 
>though his words spoke
>volumes to me.  The FCB1010 is a difficult beast for me to wrap my brain 
>around and it isn't
>getting any easier for me as the years roll on.  There's not even an LCD 
>screen...  Also for me,
>MIDI (the way it is currently applied), is non-intuitive, non-"right 
>brain" if you will.  One of
>the greatest things to come out in the last ten years of gear is the 
>entire Electrix line.  Or at
>least for those of us who relate well to this style of gear interaction.  
>Though I have never
>tried using the EDP, the discussions that ensue here on this list push me 
>further away from it as
>they seem to speak of a way to approach the pedal that runs counter to 
>what feels good to me.  I
>wish this wasn't so, as the EDP seems so powerful.  Perhaps someday I 
>will come across one of
>these little hummers and my thoughts about it will be proved incorrect.  
>I have to limit the
>amount of gear that I buy based on how accessable it is to me to 
>understand and utilize.  So much
>of what has been produced over the last 20 years seems "unfriendly" to me 
>and my way of working.
>
>     I don't want to start any flame wars here, rather the FCB1010 and 
>its awkward programming
>style led me to ruminate a bit.  I put it in the "left brain" camp.  I 
>would imagine that for some
>"left brain" oriented people, the LCD screen actually works more fluidly 
>in their music making
>process.  To those who easily understand computer software and 
>programming, certain pathways have
>been etched into their brain and the way they relate to these things.  Or 
>so it seems to me.  Once
>the FCB1010 is well programmed, it may move itself over to the "right 
>brain" camp.  Maybe.  Same
>goes for the EDP.  It may serve as an unusually intuitive tool for me, if 
>I am ever able to get
>past the user interface.  Once my feet start dancing on the pedals, who 
>knows how easy it will be?
> My sense is that Andre and others on this list already have this 
>relationship to the EDP, perhaps
>even the FCB1010...
>
>     Another analogy comes to mind with the generic stomp box vs. the 
>Line 6 stomp box modeler.  I
>have owned all 4 of their effect modelers and have felt myself not able 
>to relate to them
>intuitively (programming them that is).  The resultant effects don't seem 
>to do what they are
>supposed to do.  Other stomp boxes seem so intuitive on the other hand, 
>even the complex ones.  I
>suppose it all has to do with how the boxes are set up internally, how 
>their logic is constructed.
> On the plus side, in the process of owning these effect modelers, I have 
>come across other gear
>that does the job much more simply and directly, not to mention sounding 
>better to boot.  So I
>have a debt of gratitude for those humble Line 6 boxes.  They taught me 
>that there are ways to
>achieve what I want, in ways that work for me, and with some patience I 
>will find that way for
>myself.  (anyone interested in a used FM-4 or MM-4?)
>
>     I am still struggling with my Roland GR-33 and my Axon AX100-SB 
>guitar synths.  The Axon is
>far more powerful and far more difficult for me to work with.  The Roland 
>is more of a Plug'n'Play
>module, with crappier tracking and sounds, yet the footboard controls 
>make parts of it more
>accessable.  They both rely on small LCD screens and way too many menus 
>to scroll through, not to
>mention Owner's Manuals that were written by aliens...  The bottom line 
>may turn out that they are
>not worth the trouble for me.  The jury is not out yet.
>
>     And with all that Electrix has gone through in the last few years, 
>the bugs and
>inconsistencies and ultimate demise that is their legacy, ya still gotta 
>love 'em.  I have all 6
>of the Electrix modules, (indeed it seems like a modular synthesizer from 
>the old days), and I
>wouldn't trade them for anything.  One quick look at the rack and I know 
>intimately what is
>happening to my sound.
>
>     In none of this discussion do I mean to imply that either right or 
>left brain approaches are
>superior to one another, or that one way of working is mo bettah than 
>another way.  I'm interested
>in hearing from people what works for them.
>
>     Cheers,
>
>          SVG
>
>
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